Thursday, 11 September 2014

Happy with it!

Ok, that's it. I'm happy with this design now. This is the pair which I will send to a friend. I like the brass earring findings I received in the post this morning, they compliment the earring colours so much better than silver.

In the pair above, the trefoil is made using SCMRs and I like the shape this creates but I decided it's probably unnecessarily complicated and in the next pair I'm making (below), I've tatted regular rings for the trefoil but attached the trefoil to the chain for extra stability.

I've used both tiny size 15 beads and size 11 for extra interest as well as the pearls in the centre.

I made a pair for my daughter last night and she's wearing them today. She only wanted one colour of seed beads but I like using two colours and different sizes. Notice she had the perfectly matching tank top!

Thank you for your answers on "stiffening" in the previous post. It was interesting to read what other people do. I'm going to go with unstiffened. After all, this is lace and it should be soft to the touch rather than hard, shouldn't it? I have been wearing a version or other of these earrings for many days now and I have found that the ring of pearls works very well and they keep their shape very nicely as they are.

As for the way they hang, in the end, I decided to go with a small jump ring to attach the lace to the finding. That way it's metal rubbing on metal instead of a small tatted ring and I think the jump ring allows for better movement of the earring when worn (as seen in the bottom cream pair).

I've not had any luck selling actual lace in my Etsy shop (well, just a very few pieces over the last four years) but I decided to put a couple of pairs in there anyway to see if there's any interest. I concluded long ago that people much prefer tatting the items themselves (hence patterns are very popular) rather than buying ready-made lace. Maybe I'll have to write the pattern for this one too?

I find this design very versatile and for the last week or more I have been wearing a pair every day (today is a short turquoise one, as seen in the previous post). I like the short version and I like the long, you can have more or fewer beads, it can be tatted with just one round for a smaller earring or two for a bolder look.

I really like the way your earrings turned out! I would be one to buy the earrings rather than the pattern... if I could wear earrings! I do work with beads sometimes, but I do much better with beaded crochet than beaded tatting. Plus, I'm not fond of putting jewelry together. However, I do love jewelry!

They look really elegant, quite beautiful. I don't usually enjoy tatting with beads, or tatting with beads in it, but you've got a way with them and some kind of special magic happens! I think the pattern would be a hit, especially with their versatility. I can also imagine them adapted just a little, and with the right colours, to make "Christmas wreath" earrings too. Thank you for sharing the design's development, I really enjoyed watching each new part of the process.

Your pattern is really beautiful. To sell on Etsy, for the moment, I do not have more success with the jewels than with my patterns! I ignore what is the secret, but it is not simple!But let us stay positive!!!